Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan has long maintained that Duff Beer by The Simpsons received his name. However, one of the show's producers and writers has now claimed that the showrunners didn't even know who he was when they dubbed the fictional beer brand years ago.
The Simpsons It first aired in late 1989, aligning with Guns N' Roses' rise to fame with 1987. Appetite for destruction. So the timing would have been right for McKagan's name to inspire Homer's favorite cheap beer. The bassist originally claimed that he was contacted about the use of his name in her 2011 autobiography. It's very easy: and other lies.
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“When Guns N' Roses first started bursting into the public consciousness, I was known as a heavy drinker,” he wrote. “In 1988, MTV aired a concert in which Axl introduced me, as always, as Duff 'The Beer King' McKagan. Shortly after, a production company working on a new animated series called me to ask if they could use the name 'Duff' for a brand of beer on the show.”
McKagan's claim has since been refuted by the Simpson Creator Matt Groening and former showrunner Mike Reiss further denied it in their book. Springfield Confidential: jokes, secrets and outright lies from a lifetime writing for The Simpsons.
“We needed a name for Homer's favorite beer, and (writer) Jay Kogen came up with Duff,” Reiss said. “No, it is not named after Duff McKagan, bassist of Guns N' Roses; We had never heard of this guy. Have the? “
But McKagan recently doubled down, saying stereogum who clearly remembers being asked about the use of his name for a beer in a cartoon from the late '80s.
“I remember our management called me and told me that an art cartoon wanted to use your name as a beer, like a college art cartoon… I didn't know about branding or anything like that, but that show took off.” Duff said. “And then they started selling products and stuff. I never went after him, but I said, 'Hey, motherfuckers,' you know?
He added: “So I think it's probably business savvy of them to say that's not true. But if you do your own math, look at when they started King of Beers, and I had my King of Beers belt and I wore it all the time.”
Despite Duff's insistence, The Simpsons' the camp still stands firm on the matter. The aforementioned writer who apparently conceived the name, Jay Kogen, said TMZ this week that McKagan is completely wrong and the writers had no idea who he was at the time.
“We called him Duff because it stands for butt, butt, booty, etc.,” Kogen said, adding that they were only familiar with one member of GN'R, Axl Rose, and that there was no deep reasoning behind the name. nomenclature.
McKagan does not seem concerned about seriously pursuing any naming rights dispute, even if he maintains his original claim. The veteran bassist and singer-songwriter will embark on a solo tour this fall in support of his recent solo album. Lighthouse (get tickets here).
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